In-depth

Organic vegetable production at the Nidupchhu Monastery where monks grow their own vegetables.

What is SGP?
Established in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit, the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) embodies the very essence of sustainable development by “thinking globally, acting locally”. By providing financial and technical support to projects that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people’s well-being and livelihoods, SGP demonstrates that community action can maintain the fine balance between human needs and environmental imperatives. SGP is funded by GEF as a corporate programme, implemented by the UNDP on behalf of GEF and its partners, and executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

The grants are made directly to NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) in recognition of the key role they play as a resource and constituency for environment and development concerns. Funding of up to $50,000 is available per grant.

Our Objectives

Develop community-level strategies and implement technologies that could reduce threats to the global environment.
Gather lessons from community-level experience and share successful
community-based strategies and innovations among CBOs, NGOs, host governments, development aid agencies, GEF and others working on a regional or global scale.
Build partnerships and networks of stakeholders to support and strengthen community, NGO and national capacities to address global environmental problems and promote sustainable development.
Ensure that conservation and sustainable development strategies and projects that protect the global environment are understood and practiced
by communities and other key stakeholders.